Irish win at a canter to leave Scott Johnson's plans in tatters

IF England needed a restorative after the heart-wrenching nature of their defeat in Paris one look at their next opponents should cheer them up.

Jamie Heaslip scored Ireland's first try in a simple victory against Scotland [GETTY]

Scotland were so wretchedly limited in dismal defeat to Ireland in Dublin yesterday that the Calcutta Cup engraver may as well start work on the ‘E’ this morning, unless Scott Johnson can engineer the most drastic of turnarounds in time for Murrayfield next weekend.

The Scotland coach afterwards admitted he had been left tearing his hair out at the Aviva Stadium but insisted he would stick by his struggling side for the England game and beyond.

“We may have to go into a dark place and bring some torches but we are not going to run away from it,” said Johnson.

“There was a naivety with our team today but they will improve with time in the saddle. They were up against some wily customers and experience told.

“There was some frustration – the coaching box took a pounding – but it’s my job to see a silver lining. There is inexperience in our backline and they are still growing as lads. The irony is they are doing the hard bit quite well but it is that release valve that we are giving teams.”

Johnson’s claim that he is happy with the side’s approach work is delusional – they had no subtlety, no penetration, nothing. Add in a vulnerable setpiece and an alarming lack of leadership and they look wooden spoon favourites on the evidence of round one.

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We may have to go into a dark place and bring some torches but we are not going to run away from it

Scott Johnson

As if the Scots did not have enough personnel issues with a fully-fit squad, they will have to face England on Saturday without Lions wing Sean Maitland who twisted his right ankle in an aerial collision with Dave Kearney and suffered concussion in a 32nd minute incident.

Without Maitland, their pedestrian attack will be even more blunt.

The Scots had plenty of the ball but did not create a single chance of note bar a blind-side charge for the corner in the first half from a 5m scrum which saw Dave Denton bundled into touch by the outstanding Peter O’Mahony.

Ireland absorbed their efforts with 35-year-old Brian O’Driscoll topping the tackle count on the day he became his country’s most-capped player and then hit them, rope-a-dope style.

One magnificent break from his own 22 by Sexton almost brought a spectacular score in the left-hand corner for Heaslip but TV official Carlo Damasco ruled that Maitland’s replacement Max Evans had managed to force Ireland’s No 8 into touch.

No matter, Ireland simply picked off the rickety Scotland lineout for the fourth time in the half and after the forwards had smashed it up for a couple of phases, rapid transfer to the right gave Trimble the space to finish in the corner in first half added time.

Andrew Trimble has made 51 appearances for Ireland since 2005 [GETTY]

Seven minutes after the interval Sexton chose to put a penalty into touch in search of Ireland’s second try and it duly arrived via Heaslip from a lineout catch by Dan Tuohy.

The former Exeter second row was only in the side because Paul O’Connell pulled out before kick-off with a chest infection but a rewarding personal day also saw him play his part in the pick of the scores with nine minutes left.

After a relentless series of phases, Tuohy put Chris Henry through a gap and with the Scottish defence breached, Kearney shrugged off a feeble tackle by Alasdair Dickinson to touch down after leading Ireland out on his 50th cap. The numb silence of November when the All Blacks deprived Ireland of a famous victory with the last play was replaced by a warm ovation.

The visit of Wales next weekend will present Ireland with a much more serious obstacle but with a clean bill of healthy from yesterday and O’Connell restored, they have the cast list to turn it into one of the games of the championship.

“Wales play a very simple game but they play it very well and very hard. We are going to have our work cut out but whichever 23 represent Ireland will be up for it,” warned Heaslip, the man of the yesterday’s one-sided match.